CHARLOTTE, N.C. — After being tied for the PGA Championship lead with solely 9 holes to play and developing seven photographs in need of eventual winner Scottie Scheffler, two-time main winner Jon Rahm stated Sunday that he is taking plenty of positives from being in rivalry at a serious once more.
“God, it has been some time since I had that a lot enjoyable on a golf course, 15 holes,” Rahm stated. “Fairly recent wound proper now. However there’s been plenty of good taking place this week and plenty of constructive emotions to take for the remainder of the yr.”
Rahm’s probability at securing his first PGA Championship fell aside on the par-3 seventeenth gap as he despatched his tee shot left of the pin and will solely watch in dismay because it bounced into the water. However the missed alternatives started with the thirteenth gap, the place a makeable birdie putt lipped out.
On the 14th gap, Rahm hit what he thought was the proper drive together with his 5-wood. He referred to as it his finest shot of the week, but it surely bounced proper and right into a bunker. He could not stand up and down for birdie and needed to accept a par.
Rahm performed the par-5 fifteenth completely, giving himself a putt off the inexperienced for eagle. But, Rahm’s stroke was too robust, and he did not convert his subsequent shot for birdie. As Scheffler made birdies on 14 and 15, Quail Hole’s robust Inexperienced Mile stretch didn’t let Rahm again in it. He bogeyed 16 and carded double bogeys on 17 and 18.
“The final three holes, it is a robust tablet to swallow proper now,” Rahm stated. “If there was ever a time the place it felt prefer it was slipping away to an extent, it was not birdieing 14 and 15; that was undoubtedly the error, earlier than, clearly, ending poorly.”
Rahm, a member of LIV Golf’s Legion XII crew, has been racking up top-10s on the LIV tour with ease. However till this week, he had but to be in rivalry at a serious since he received the 2023 Masters. His finest end earlier than this was a noncompetitive tie for seventh finally yr’s Open Championship. Sunday’s eighth-place end didn’t correctly characterize Rahm’s day; with 9 holes left, he had an actual shot to win.
“I believe it is the primary time I have been in place to win a serious that shut and have not executed it,” Rahm stated. “The one occasions I believe I have been within the lead in a serious on a Sunday, I have been capable of shut it out, and this can be a very totally different scenario.”
All week, Rahm’s driver and his putter had been working nicely. He completed inside the highest 20 in strokes gained for each classes. His method sport was prime 30 within the subject, however he misplaced strokes on his quick sport, as was evident when he could not stand up and down on the ultimate 5 holes.
“If there’s ever any individual that is sitting proper right here that tells you nerves weren’t part of it, they’re clearly mendacity. It is the primary factor we do as an expert sport; it is controlling what goes by way of your thoughts,” Rahm stated of what led to the unhealthy swings. “I believe it was a little bit of nerves. Cannot pinpoint precisely proper now. I will return to what occurred. I did not really feel like I rushed something. I did not really feel like the method was unhealthy.”
As somebody who sometimes reveals his feelings, Rahm gave the impression to be processing the end in real-time, however he tried to maintain it in perspective.
“I at all times like to return slightly bit on one thing that Charles Barkley likes to remind basketball gamers on a regular basis. Like, I play golf for a dwelling. It is unbelievable,” Rahm stated. “Am I embarrassed slightly bit about how I completed at this time? Yeah. However I simply have to recover from it, recover from myself. It is not the tip of the world. Once more, there’s much more constructive than detrimental to consider this week. I am actually glad I put myself in place and hopefully be taught from this and provides it one other go within the U.S. Open.”
